Otter in Pajamas with a Lantern Cross Stitch Pattern

About this otter cross stitch pattern

A brown otter sits on a green picnic blanket in pale yellow pajamas with a small flower print, holding a steaming cup of tea in both paws. To the left stands an old-fashioned green lantern with a lit candle inside, and behind it grow ferns, yellow buttercups and purple wildflowers. The otter’s long tail curls out to the right across the blanket.

It’s a slow, cozy evening picture with a lot of fine detail in the plants and the pajama print. It makes a good pair with the Otter in a Patchwork Quilt with a Mug, which has the same otter, lantern and hot drink; our large cross stitch round-up compares it with other big projects.

What you need

• Fabric: 14-count Aida in white, cut to at least 20“ x 19“ (3“ around the design for hooping and framing).
• Thread: 25 DMC colors, about 25 skeins in total, stitched with two strands. The main colors are 612 Drab Brown – Light (2,003 stitches), 3052 Green Gray – Medium (1,754) and 523 Fern Green – Light (1,520).
• Needle: a size 24 tapestry needle.
• Stitches: full cross stitches only, with no backstitch.

Difficulty and stitching time

It’s rated Advanced for its size and its many colors used in similar amounts: no single thread covers more than about 12% of the design. At 17,078 stitches it takes roughly 171 to 285 hours at a steady 60 to 100 stitches an hour. Almost half the fabric (46.0%) stays bare around the scene.

Tips for stitching this pattern

• Stitch the blanket as your base. 3052 Green Gray – Medium (1,754 stitches) and 523 Fern Green – Light (1,520) make the blanket and the ferns. The blanket is the widest shape in the chart, and once it’s in, the otter and the lantern have a floor to stand on.
• Sort the pajama yellows. 745 Yellow – Light Pale (1,379 stitches), 676 Old Gold – Light (1,107) and ECRU (1,191) all sit in the pajamas and the lantern glow. Stitch the pajama fabric before the tiny flower print so you don’t lose count of the gaps.
• Leave the wildflowers for the end. The purple and yellow flowers are scattered small groups of stitches. Working them last, one color at a time across the whole bottom-left corner, saves a lot of starting and stopping.

Size, fabric and framing

On 14-count Aida the finished design measures 13.2“ x 12.2“ (33.5 x 31.0 cm). On 16-count it comes out at 11.6“ x 10.7“, and on 18-count at 10.3“ x 9.5“. A 16“ x 20“ frame leaves room for a mat.

A warm wooden frame suits the lantern and the fern greens.

What’s in the free PDF

• A cover page and a one-page overview with a preview of the design
• The chart, split across as many printable pages as you choose, in color or black and white, with a symbol for every DMC color, center lines, a mini-map showing which part of the design each page covers and a color key on every page
• The thread list: DMC number, color name, number of stitches and skeins to buy for each color
• The finished size on 11-, 14-, 16-, 18- and 28-count Aida